Densmore offers reward for stolen Mystic Liberty Pole flag

Mystic — Mark Densmore, the owner of the Densmore Oil Co., has offered a $500 reward for return of the Liberty Pole flag that was stolen Saturday night.

Mystic Flag Committee Chairman John Kennedy said that if the flag is not returned, Densmore will donate the $500 to the committee to pay for two 12-foot by 18-foot replacement flags.

“This is the kind of community patriotic spirit we love to see,” Kennedy said in an email Monday announcing Densmore’s offer.

Saturday’s theft of the flag was the second in three months, and fifth time overall someone has stolen the large American flag near the drawbridge.

The flag was stolen while it was still at half staff in honor of Connecticut Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Ronald Patterson Jr., 43, of Bridgeport, who was killed in a crash on I-95 on Aug. 7. The committee is slated to meet this week to discuss ways to prevent future thefts.